Spitting Image

Twelve-year-old Jessie K. Bovey has a lot to worry about. She doesn't know who her father is; her old biddy of a grandmother keeps interfering in her life; her best friend, Robert, desperately needs new glasses that his family can't afford; and mean Dickie Whitten teases Robert until Jessie has no choice but to punch him out. When some New York City reporters show up in Beulah County to research a story about the War on Poverty, Jessie sees a way to solve one of her problems. She can charge money for showing the reporters around town so they can take pictures of the "local color" and use it to help pay for Robert's glasses. But her plan backfires spectacularly, and Jessie learns some big lessons and some big secrets as well.


Jessie begins to wonder about the identity of her own father during this time. Her mother has said for years that she would tell her who her father was when Jessie was older. Well, the time has come and Jessie finds that she's still not getting any answers. She decides to take matters into her own hands and writes a young doctor who was a friend of her mother's. The doctor comes to town after receiving the letter to let Jessie know he isn't her father, although he cares about her very much. As the story progresses you learn that the doctor's friendship with her mother was not well received by many prejudiced people in the southern town. In fact, their friendship was the reason Jessie's mother's home was burned down while she was pregnant with Jessie. In the end, Jessie does find out who her father is, but she finds that knowing his name isn't as important as the family that she already has now.


Author Shutta Crum does an excellent job of taking you into Kentucky during the "War on Poverty". The dialects and dire situations appear quite authentic and almost painfully realistic. Crum deals with difficult topics such as racism and rape very delicately, yet realistically. The book is informative and builds up to a suspenseful conclusion when the father's name is finally released. Although Jessie may not get the father she desired, she does get the family she needs. The grandmother's character is also a very intricate part of the plot as you learn about her many past marriages and how she ends up with a car from each ex-husband after each divorce. Although Jessie and her grandmother don't see eye to eye, they find that they do have a deeper understanding of one another after going through a traumatic event. This is well written novel that tackles serious subjects in an introspective and thought provoking manner.


I believe this is a good novel to read if you are going through hard times with your family or if you just need some excitement. I've read this book before and I just had to read it again. These lines spoke to me: "Finding your place in the world isn't easy. Sometimes you have to push out and clear a space you can claim for yourself. And sometimes, when you're not even thinking about it, a space just opens up and you walk in and meet the outside world that's come looking for you."This book is easy to read and doesn't have very many big words. It also has a sort of historical side to it when it discusses the "War on Poverty". It mentions people such as Dorthea Lange and Walker Evans. I always asked myself "How did Shutta Crum come up with such an enticing novel?" Well I decided to look more into. I found out she based it off an incident in Kentucky in 1967 with some reporters. I was also wondering what exactly a "close-knit" community would be? They are all very close to each other location wise and many of them are good friends, but others are very rude and mean to each other. This would be an excellent novel for someone to read and I highly recommend it.